11/26/2024 - Towns In SW FRance Experienced Overnight Lows Above 80F

[hatrack]

Towns in south-west France roasted in “completely extreme” heat in the early hours of Tuesday, with overnight temperatures hitting 26.9C (80.42F). “It’s very exceptional temperatures – even for the summer, let alone late November,” said Matthieu Sorel, a climatologist at Météo France.

Climate scientists across the country described the night-time heat as “staggering” and “phenomenal” for reaching such highs so late in the year. Météo France could not confirm if it was the highest temperature recorded on a November night because its hourly data only stretched back to about 1990, said Sorel. “But still, it’s huge,” he added. “From what we can remember, [we have] never seen such temperatures during the night for this time of year.”

Violently hot nights are felt on the French side of the Pyrenees when warm air from north Africa and the Mediterranean comes down the mountains and compresses, heating up even more. The natural phenomenon, known as the Föhn effect, adds to the impact of fossil fuel pollution, which has trapped sunlight and heated the planet 1.3C since preindustrial times.

In Europe, which has warmed about twice as fast as the global average, the shift has melted glaciers and dried out reservoirs. It has forced people to suffer through deadly heatwaves that reach catastrophic highs in the day and provide little respite at night. Temperatures near Pau reached 26.9C at 4am on Tuesday, according to Météo France, and in Biarritz and Tarbes it hit 24C.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/28/south-west-france-sweltered-in-269c-november-night-time-heat

[Vogon_Glory]

1. Now repeat after me, says Doctor Dee Ranged (PhD Communications)

“There is no such thing as global warming. There is no such thing as global warming. There is no such thing as global warming.”